Former West Ham United trainee Kieran Bailey has signed a development contract with Colchester United.
The 18-year-old spent the latter part of last season with Colchester's Under-21 side and he did enough during those outings to earn himself a permanent deal with the League One outfit.
"We have high hopes for Kieran, he fits in with what we want to do here. We have already had a good look at him and feel he is more than capable of progressing into the first team squad," manager Tony Humes told the club's official website.
"With him already having trained and played with us, he knows what we want and we know what he can do so he should be able to hit the ground running when we're back for pre-season training."
The midfielder joined West Ham at the age of eight.
